Principal's Report

Principal Report

A warm welcome to the new school year - I hope that all of our College community experienced a safe and enjoyable holiday period and were afforded the opportunity to re-charge and connect with family and friends.

Upon John Roberts’ departure from our College, it is with a great deal of pride that I step into the role of Acting Principal for Term 1.

We have a particularly exciting year ahead of us with the College celebrating its 50th Anniversary. This milestone provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon our beginnings and recognise the efforts of all the leaders, teachers, students and families that have been a part of the East Doncaster Secondary College community and in turn contributed to the creation of a culture of excellence that is underpinned by the commitment to supporting the social, emotional and academic development of all of our students. Stay tuned to future newsletters with details of celebration activities that will take place throughout the year.

We are delighted to welcome back all our students for what we sincerely hope will be a successful and exciting 2024 and offer a special welcome and message of sincere greetings to the 364 Year 7 students and their families along with the many new students that have joined our College across Years 8-12. I am confident that our current students will demonstrate our College values of care and compassion and respect as they welcome our new students and help them to make friends quickly. 

Our year began with the renaming of our buildings and therefore classrooms. Over the break additional changes were also taking place with the installation of a number of new relocatable classrooms. Our Year 7 students are certainly making their way around with ease as they familiarise themselves with their new environment whilst our Year 8-12 students are learning to put new names to familiar spaces. With week two now at a close, all students are navigating the College with confidence and it has been wonderful to witness classes in all year levels settle quickly. The atmosphere in classrooms has been energetic, with relationship building being a key focus alongside purposeful teaching and learning.

College Leadership

I am pleased to introduce our Leadership Team for 2024.

Principal Class

Karen Boyle – Acting Principal (Term 1)

Cameron Campbell – Assistant Principal- Student Wellbeing and Engagement and Operations

Brett Lamb – Acting Assistant Principal- Staff Development and Internationalising Education (Semester 1)

Jarrod Sturnieks – Acting Assistant Principal- Teaching and Learning (Term 1)

Leading Teachers

Kate Leaumont – Senior School Coordinator, Justin Bond – Middle School Coordinator, Justin D’Andrea– Teaching and Learning – Pedagogy, Steve Hoffman – Timetable / Staffing, Niema Allan – Mathematics/Numeracy, Brenda James – English/Literacy, Sally Polidano – Science/STEM, Brigid Fahey – Student Learning Performance, Tim Bourke – Student Voice & Community Engagement, Amal Saleh-Zada -Director of Wellbeing

New and Returning Staff to EDSC

I am also very pleased to welcome the following teachers who are either returning from extended leave or starting with us for the first time in 2024:

College Performance 2023

A sincere congratulations is extended to the ‘Class of 2023’ for their efforts and achievements and to our VCE teachers for their application and dedication to ensuring that our students equipped with the skills, knowledge and confidence to aim high and achieve their goals.

Once again our excellent results are a testament to the quality of our teaching and learning program, the dedication of our teachers across Years 7 to 12 and to the families that provide invaluable support their students throughout their learning journey.

Our median VCE study score was 33.

3 of our students achieved an ATAR of 99 or higher.

33 of our students achieved an ATAR of 95 or higher. 

30% of our students received an ATAR over 90.

55 % of our students received an ATAR over 80.

Our average ATAR was 79 – the state average was 69.3.

Three students received a study score of 50, thus placing them in the top 0.3% in the state:

Belle Shi (English)

Montana Basille (English)

Samuel Ting (Chemistry)

DUX of the COLLEGE

2023 Joint Dux of the College:  Belle Shi and Samuel Ting, who both achieved an ATAR of 99.85 – a phenomenal achievement for them both!

Belle and Samuel worked with diligence throughout their VCE studies and their final result is a fitting reward for their consistent hard work and application to their studies. We wish these outstanding young people every success in their future pursuits.

We are extremely proud of the achievements of our students and the effort and nurturing care of our teachers in supporting them throughout their time at East Doncaster. 

College Swimming Carnival

It was very rewarding to witness our students supporting the first major whole- school event on our College calendar – today’s Swimming and Diving Carnival. It is always wonderful to see our students make the most of this opportunity to socially connect and once again perform in the sporting arena.

True to tradition, our Year 12 students once again took the opportunity to dress creatively, demonstrating a sense of fun and imagination, as they set out to create lasting memories for their final school year but also in proud support of their allocated house. As the day progressed I was great so see participation across all year levels and some outstanding skills on display. Congratulations to Dunlop – the winning House team of the Carnival in what turned out to be a very competitive final leaderboard.

1st Dunlop

2nd Sutherland

3rd Chisholm

4th Bradman

Michael James, our Sports Carnival Coordinator, will publish a full report of the Carnival in our next Newsletter.  Could I finally acknowledge the superb organisational effort of Michael and his team of staff helpers for their considerable work both before and during the day and pay a special tribute to our extended student leadership team for their efforts, enthusiasm and teamwork that made the day all the more rewarding. 

School Council Elections

Parents are invited to read the attached information about School Council Elections and consider whether they are able to make a tangible contribution to our College community by engaging in the overview and policy development of East Doncaster SC. Further information is on our website. Please feel free to contact me at the College if you would like to discuss any matters related to our School Council.

School Council and 2024 Annual General Meeting - Open Meeting

We are extending an invitation to the College Community to attend the March School Council meeting and Annual General Meeting. This will be held at 6.30pm on Wednesday 27 March. Interested parties are asked to please contact Lisa Bull at Lisa.Bull2@education.vic.gov.au  for further details and to register attendance. All attendees must be registered by 4.00pm Wednesday 20 March.

2024 Parent Payments

With the generous support of our parents, EDSC can offer high quality and successful academic and co-curricular programs.  Your financial assistance enables us to enrich and extend the learning experiences of our students by offering enhanced curriculum and a wider range of subjects which meet the diverse needs of our 1900+ students such as instrumental music, literacy and numeracy programs, outdoor education and technology subjects.   

Your support of our students also helps to improve technology in the classroom, employ additional staff and maintain the grounds and environment which makes us a school that excels. 

In past years, the contributions of parents have allowed us to build a purpose-built VCE Centre (The John Landy Centre), a high quality Performing Arts Centre, Sports Centre and Wellbeing Centre (The Phillip Gardiner Centre).  With further fundraising efforts, we plan to renovate our Mathematics and Art buildings and further redevelop our outdoor spaces to provide better learning spaces and resources for our students. 

The 2024 Parent Payment arrangements are available for payment via Compass on your home page under “Payments Centre”. 

Alternatively, payments can be made directly to the College via credit card or cash using the College Payment Envelope. Please ensure you download the attached form for the appropriate year level. Payment envelopes can be dropped off at the College in the locked drop box at Reception.  Please refer to the attached Parent Payments Policy and further links to information via https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/parent-payment/policy

Outstanding Student Achievement – an invitation

As we commence the new school year and welcome many new families to our College community - can I take this opportunity to remind families that we are always willing to hear of and share the deeds of our students in their sporting, academic, performing arts or community-based pursuits external to our College. We have, on a regular basis, students who are involved in a quite extraordinary array of activities and it is always a pleasure and with great pride that we seek to share those outcomes with our wider school community.

In accord with the above invitation, we extend a warm congratulations to three of our 2023 Year 12 Media students who were shortlisted for the prestigious Top Screen film festival. 

Kayley L was shortlisted for her informative documentary Shoes Off, focused on the responsibilities and pressures felt by eldest daughters in immigrant families. It hones in on the struggles and stresses of second generation immigrants as they try to fulfill their filial piety whilst balancing their own individual desires and needs - on the edge between two cultures. 

Jayden L was shortlisted Orio. A story of a conflict of a man, with multiple personality. 'Tristan' has a nightmare of the terrorist 'Pedro', who ruins building and city, only because he enjoys 'chaos'. Tristan suddenly sees Pedro in ruined city. Tristan realises that Pedro was him. Tristan suddenly wakes up in the city, with Pedro's mask in front of him. 

Oscar M was shortlisted for his documentary En Garde Ready Fence, which depicts the journey of Tim Davis, an Australian national champion in sabre fencing. It has a focus on Tim’s experiences fencing and his reflections on the sport, aiming to showcase his passion and the journey he has been on. It is structured as an interview with Tim about his time as a competitor and coach.

The festival, which is a selection of the best films from VCE Media students in Victoria, Australia, is an initiative of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) -it aims to recognise and celebrate the achievements of talented young filmmakers and to provide them with an opportunity to showcase their work to a wider audience. To be shortlisted for this prestigious festival is a great honour and we are very proud of Kayley, Jayden and Oscar.

Karen Boyle

Acting Principal

School Council Elections 2024

Calls for Nomination - Opens Monday 5 February.  Closed at 4pm Monday 12 February 2024.

One of the challenges of secondary schools is gaining involvement of parents. After significant time spent in school-based activities in primary schools, it is not uncommon for parents to step back from similar activities at secondary school. In recent years parent involvement and interest in our Parents and Friends Association and School Council has been increasing. We hope to continue this growth of engagement.

There is a call for nominations for parent and DE Employee categories.

In the 2024 School Council Elections there are:

Two vacant parent category positions

Two vacant DE (employee) positions

Please find attached the information to parents, staff and students and the timeline and nominations for the 2024 School Council Elections. Nominations forms can be provided in either hard copy to Reception or emailed to east.doncaster.sc@education.vic.gov.au by the closing date. 

Photographing, Filming and Recording students at East Doncaster Secondary College - Annual Consent Form and Collection Notice 2024

During the school year, there are typically many occasions and events where school staff may photograph or film students participating in school activities and events. These images are used for a variety of purposes including the school newsletters,  (for example, of classroom activities or camps and excursions and events), Compass News Feeds, student identification, College magazine and display in school classrooms. We also arrange for official school photographs to be taken at the start of each year, including a class composite photo which is available for parents to order. 

We ask that all parents please refer to the attached Annual Consent Form and Collection Notice.

Parents or carers can withdraw consent for their child to be photographed or filmed by completeing the form on the Annual Consent Form and Collection Notice and returning it to Reception or via email east.doncaster.sc@education.vic.gov.au